"Uncle, the matter has been clarified, it is the Zhao clan that is squeezing the price of salt in Dingtao, Diqiu and other places in the Central Plains!"

Wei Manduo's face was gloomy, and he listened to Ling Hubo, who had just returned from the East, report to him. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

"Sure enough." His hand slapped heavily on the desk, and then asked, "Where did the Zhao family get the salt, Taiyuan Dalu?" The salt produced there is worse than the Anyi salt pond in terms of quality and quantity, and the cost of transporting it to the Central Plains is already higher than that of Anyi salt. ”

"It's not a big brine salt, but a new salt, from Langya in Juguo, the East China Sea."

"Are you saying that the Zhao family boiled a large amount of sea salt on the Baili seashore in Langya District, and then sold it at a price below cost, so that the Wei family could not compete with it?"

"I'm afraid it's not that the Zhao family is losing money, but that the price of these salts is very low."

Ling Hubo leaned over to Wei Mando's ear and said: "I have been in contact with the Chen clan of Qi State, and they said that this kind of Langya salt, which has recently appeared on the market, has also caused a great dilemma for Qi Guohai Salt, and experienced salt workers have seen that this kind of salt is by no means cooked by the existing process. ”

"I'm afraid that Zhao Shizi has come up with a new trick, just like the flour and paper he made before." Wei Manduo sighed, the current Wei family, and even the world, can be seen everywhere imitation of the Zhao family, from the city's health planning, to the army's arms and training, Zhao's influence is everywhere.

But what discouraged him was that no matter how much he followed suit, he couldn't catch up with the Zhao family, because in the territory under Zhao Wuxian's rule, there would always be something new that would pop up and open the eyes of the world at a time that you didn't expect.

This time, it is probably Zhao's salt workers who have come up with a new way to obtain a large amount of high-quality and inexpensive salt from the sea. The Chen clan of Qi State hated this, and coveted it, and constantly sent people to test it, hoping to know this method, so that it could be replicated on the thousands of miles of seashore of Qi State. But Wei has no coastline, and it is useless to be greedy, and the problem now is that the salt in Anyi Pond was squeezed by Langya salt, and it could not be sold at all in Taoqiu and Diqiu, which caused Wei's economic difficulties.

"Uncle, how should this be?"

Just as Qi relied on sea salt taxes to maintain the survival of the state, the sales of Anyi salt also accounted for a large proportion of Wei's financial revenue, and if the salt could not be sold next year, the Wei family would not even be able to afford to raise military soldiers, so Hu Bo was very anxious.

Wei Mando sneered: "During the Houma Alliance, although Zhao Wuxian claimed not to interfere in Hedong, in fact, he coveted this place all the time. Because Hedong is connected to the party in the east, Hexi in the west, Zhou and Zheng in the south, and Jinyang in the north, as Zai Kong once said, the Jin Kingdom is sealed, Jing and Huo are the city, and Fen, He, Shu, and Hu are the abyss, which can be said to be the rivers and mountains in the surface, Zhao Wuxian's ambition is very big, so big that it is beyond our imagination, he wants to get the whole Jin, it is impossible to give up Hedong! ”

At this point, he paused abruptly and pressed his hands slightly against his abdomen.

"Uncle, but is you sick?" It made Hu Bo even more nervous, at such a critical juncture, if one of the two pillars of the Wei clan fell, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"It's okay, it's just that when I'm older, my stomach will often be uncomfortable."

He continued: "In my early years, I was deceived by him, thinking that he had the ambition to divide the kingdom into three points, but now it seems that it was all a disguise, a fog released before the annexation of us. Now that the situation around the Zhao clan is very good, the country has been destroyed, the upper land has been annexed, and the river has been recaptured, no one can threaten its back, and after consolidating the east, Zhao Wuxian is afraid that he can't wait to do it to us and unify the Jin Kingdom. ”

Seeing the slight knowledge, from the squeeze on the price of salt, Wei Mando, the old fox, had already noticed Zhao's movements.

As a monarch, he must be as cunning as a fox in order to recognize the trap, and he must also be a tiger in order to terrify the jackal.

But Zhao Wuxian is not an ordinary jackal, he is a giant eagle who wants to attack the world, relying on the Wei clan alone, he is afraid that it will be a rabid dog barking, and he will not be able to curb his ambitions.

"In the face of Zhao's aggressiveness, I have to guard against it." Weimando made a decision.

"You go to the East again and tell Chen Qing of Qi that I can't join the anti-Zhao alliance he proposed for the time being. But he can stay within the Jin State, provide him with information, and give convenience, in return, can the Qi State say anything for the Wei family and the Qin State, all kinds of misunderstandings between the Qin and Wei families are because of the Zhao family's provocation, why not put aside the Hexi dispute first, so as not to let the Zhao family get the benefit of the fisherman. ”

……

Wei Manduo sent Linghu Bo to the door of the mansion and watched him slowly go away, each generation of the Wei family will produce some talents, which is an important reason why they have continued to this day. Especially in the next generation, Wei Ju, Lu Xing, and Ling Hubo can be called the three masters, the son can be in politics, Lu Xing can lead the troops, and Ling Hubo is also a talent in Zaifu, and the affairs of the East are handed over to him, Wei Manduo is very relieved.

He really hoped that the Wei family could survive this year smoothly and continue to prosper, and one day he would have to completely hand over the burden to the young people.

At this moment, Wei Manduo listened to his old family sigh: "Today's weather is different, look at the ...... of the day."

He also raised his head to look at the sun, but saw a halo around the sun, shaped like a white rainbow passing through the sun.

"This is the white rainbow through the sun, and it is said that there is an ominous thing in the world, which will cause this change in the celestial phenomenon......"

"Nonsense."

Although Wei Manduo looked pious in front of the people, and used the theory of ghosts and gods to confuse everyone, in fact, he didn't believe in the permanence of heaven and the retribution of good and evil, so he scoffed at the words of the old family and said confidently: "If there is something ominous, it will also happen in the territory of the Zhao family." ”

In the middle of winter, all the corn in Wei's territory had been harvested, and the wheat planted in summer was eaten by locusts.

On the contrary, in Wei Manduo's view, things are changing for the better, isn't there a saying, woe and fortune rely on blessing and misfortune, and he thought it was a blessing to get Hexi, but he was dragged into the quagmire of war; The continuous drought and locust plague were thought to be disasters, but they also prompted him to connect with Qi and Zheng.

This year, the Zhao family successively turned Wei Guo and San Yi into their puppets, which caused the shock of the princes of the world, and Zhao Wuxian's domination of the world and the annexation of the Central Plains were undoubtedly revealed, so the Chen family of Qi was planning a new anti-Zhao alliance with Qin and Chu, and even wanted to pull the Wei clan into the gang.

Wei Manduo's request was very simple, if Qi could make Qin and Wei reach a peace treaty, then he would be happy to remain neutral when the princes attacked the Zhao clan, and even give them convenience.

As long as Hexi is in the hands of the Wei clan, it is naturally impossible to negotiate peace, but Wei Manduo only wants to let the Qin people ease the offensive and let the Wei clan survive until next autumn's harvest.

"The expansion of the Zhao clan this year has made the princes panic, for fear that they will also become the next Weiguo and Sanyi, and the attack on Zhao is close at hand, just wait for the Zhao clan to fall into the four fronts, and then I will unite with the Han clan to be neutral, and sit back and watch Zhao Wuxian be tired of coping, and then who will have the final say in the Jin Kingdom, it is not yet known!"

This is the omen of Bai Hong, the omen of the Zhao clan next year, he thought gloatingly.

……

On that day, Wei Manduo once again feasted guests, these people are the protons of the clans and heroes of Hexi, in order to stabilize the place, Wei Manduo has made great efforts to entrap them.

Halfway through the feast, Wei Manduo felt a little uncomfortable in his abdomen, after he entered the age of fifty, his stomach became worse, and he ate too much delicacies from the mountains and seas, and he was prone to indigestion, and the number of toilet visits became more frequent.

"Help me to change my clothes."

People have three urgencies, but fortunately there is a toilet in the side hall, this is a new toilet that has just been repaired this year, and Wei Mando has not been there.

The guards waited outside, and Wei Mando entered alone, because the monarch had to maintain his sense of mystery in front of his subjects, and he could not let others know his details, especially not let them realize that the supreme monarch was just like the common people!

Wei Man had a bad stomach, and he had to squat for a long time every time, and his clothes faded and rolled up on his buttocks, but after he was done, he found that there was no tissue paper next to him.

Since the invention of paper by the Zhao family, paper has replaced toilet chips and has become a must-have item for aristocrats.

At the same time, he also noticed that there was an extra person in front of him, and a sharp dagger in his left hand, and he quietly lurked in the toilet, watching one person leave, until his target finally appeared.

"The villain has seen Wei Qing." The eyes of the prisoner were as terrifying as those of a leopard that had found its prey after lurking for many days.

"Are you...... My house's toilet cleaner ......" Wei Mando's face was not afraid, at least he didn't show the slightest trace, now even if he shouted for help, the person in front of him could harm him before the guards arrived, from his eyes and the posture of holding the dagger, it could be seen that this was a seasoned assassin, Wei Mando's eyes glanced at the sword behind this man, Wei Qing's saber, untied and placed there when he was in the toilet, no more than a foot away from him.

"What do you want, gold and silver, a woman, or a official?"

"I just want to say hello for my lord."

"Who is your lord?" Wemando tried to influence the man with his words, while trying to slowly get up and prepare for action.

"Wei Qing has such a good memory, and even remembers me, an inconspicuous villain, but unfortunately he forgot Wei's closest ally, Zhishi?"

As soon as he finished speaking, before Wei Mando could cry out for help, he tried to leap over and take the sword, and the torturer's dagger stabbed Wei Mando in the lower abdomen.

Wei Mando snorted, fell to the ground, the dagger was inserted deeply, up to the wooden handle, blood continued to flow down the blade, flowing through his smooth lower body, dripping onto the cleaned ground, the prisoner swept the streets for three years, two years of toilets, for today.

"You...... Dare! Wei Mando was incredulous, his trembling eyes were full of horror, but now his stomach was completely relaxed, and a foul smell suddenly filled the toilet.

The outside should have heard the movement inside, and the guards were scolding and pouring inside.

"This time it is for my family lord Jun Zhiyao, and this time it ......"

The prisoner picked up a small crossbow, drew the bowstring, set up an arrow, and aimed it at the center of Weimando's eyebrows.

"It's for my wife's family, and it's for the people of Hedong who were forced to a dead end by your generation!"

With a snap of his finger, the feather arrow plunged into Wei Mando's eyebrows, and before the spear behind him stabbed, the torturer flew up and kicked Wei Qing's body into the bottomless dung pit......

PS: There are two more chapters in the evening

(To be continued.) )